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Ethanol industry 'cannot compete'
6 May 2004
A yet-to-be-released report by the Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics warns that fuels made from grain or sugar have little hope of competing with petrol without ongoing taxpayer support for many years. Just a week after the Federal Government's announcement of a $444 million sugar industry rescue package, which included $75 million to help canegrowers develop new industries, the report states that sugar has less chance of long-term success than its competitors in biofuels production. Predictions of oil and grains prices, as well as the value of the $AUD, indicate ethanol made from sugar cane may not be as viable as that made from sorghum or feed wheat.
ABARE can't determine whether an ethanol industry will be viable in the long term without ongoing Government assistance beyond 2011. That assistance should encourage enough new production to meet a target of 350 million litres of biofuels by 2010.
The Australian, 6/5/04, page 3.
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